Endings and Beginnings
by Raven Jadewolfe
Summary: What if a single crack in space and time opened into the parallel world where Rose is and she touched it? Another timey whimey possible repercussion. T mostly for some language. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Yep, I'm back with another short story from the Whoverse and no, I haven't managed to buy the copyrights to anything just yet.**

**Also, this is not beta'd. I try to fix all my mistakes before I post but sometimes a few get through.**

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><p><em>Their new life together is crashing to its end before it's really had a chance to begin and there is nothing she can do to stop it. Rose Tyler, Defender of Earth, is utterly defenseless.<em>

_And it's all because of a Timelord who was unfortunate enough to be born with only one heart and a measly single life to go with it._

"I can't stay here anymore, it's killing me. Being stranded on this stupid, smelly, primitive rock is slowly sucking dry what little life I have left and I can't stand it." He never turns from the bag that he is packing as he speaks and it is breaking her heart into a million jagged shards that are shredding her from the inside out. "I have to get out of here, find out who I am, before I lose my mind. I was wrong about so many things..."

She doesn't bother to wipe away the fresh set of tears that begin cascading down her face, "I know who you are and so do you. You're the Doctor."

"Dammit Rose, I told you not to call me that!" he roars and shoulders his bag before pushing passed the distraught blond, "Once upon a time I was like him, but then I started to realize that I was just pretending. For you mostly, but a little for myself as well. Donna's influence, I'm guessing. And it's because of that same influence that I tried so hard to make you happy, thinking it would be enough...but I'm tired of ignoring everything that I need and want so that you won't be disappointed."

"I could never be disappointed in you," she sniffles, following him down the brightly painted hall and into the living room of their shared flat," I thought you were happy here, with me. I'm sorry that this isn't the life you expected, that I'm not good enough to keep up with you. Please don't do this though. Don't leave, I'm beggin' you. We can find a way to make this work for us, even if it's just as friends. Please, please, you promised that you wouldn't leave m-"

He pulls his jacket on, digs something out of the pocket, and tosses a set of keys on to the table, "No. That wasn't me. _He_ promised that he wouldn't leave you and well, you see how that one turned out. I guess he and I still have some things in common after all. Goodbye, Rose Tyler."

She sags down the wall until she is just a sobbing heap on the hard wood floor.

"Doctor, I need you."

She waits, but no one comes to save her this time.

Not even after five and a half hours.

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><p><strong>Yipes, what a start!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Nope, don't own XP**

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><p><em>-six months later-<em>

After she reports for duty at Torchwood command and heads up to her office, Rose Tyler learns that things can definitely get far worse than she'd ever imagined. The proof sits on her desk in the form a picture of a couple smiling up from the newspaper that is followed by a short article.

**Doctor John Noble, special projects consultant for the Torchwood Institute, current professor of Science at Farringham School, and former fiance of Vitex heiress Rose Tyler, has announced his marriage to pediatric nurse Verity Newman. **

**They were joined in the bonds matrimony inside the chapel of Farringham School, where the bride and groom first met after Doctor Noble offered to fill in for a colleague when the man unexpectedly fell ill at the beginning of term.**

** The happy newlyweds have a second reason to celebrate as well, as they are expecting their first child to be born sometime this spring.**

**At the time of printing, there have been no statements released from Miss Tyler or her family in regards to Doctor Noble's nuptials in spite of multiple attempts to contact the reclusive heiress.**

Hours later, after a cutting torch is finally used to open the door, Jackie and Pete Tyler find their daughter curled up under her desk and staring at nothing, the crumpled newspaper still clenched in her hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, no ownage on my behalf, I just play in the BBC's sandbox.**

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><p>Two years after hearing of the human Doctor's marriage and impending fatherhood-and her subsequent breakdown- Rose, by chance, spots him inside of Torchwood one wintry morning. She attempts to be polite by raising a hand and waving a greeting when he passes by less than a meter from where she stands, but she might as well be a ghost for all he reacts.<p>

The woman nearly collapses with pain once in her office as she finally admits to herself that her Doctor is truly gone.

Insult is added to injury that night when a phone call interrupts her usual nightmare filled sleep.

John Noble, his wife, and their children are missing.

And so is the young TARDIS that Rose had been lovingly tending on her own for the past three years.


	4. Chapter 4

Three months later, Pete Tyler is killed when his zeppelin malfunctions over the Atlantic Ocean.

Two years after that, Rose's younger brother Tony succumbs to a rare form of leukemia.

Another year goes by and Rose's last true friend, Jake Simmonds, is killed in action by an alien child who had been separated from its parents.

Ten years to the day that Rose, Jackie, and Mickie were first stranded on Dårlig Ulv-Stranden in this alternate world, Jackie Tyler is found floating on the aforementioned beach after missing for thirteen days.

She tries calling John Noble, desperate for anything remotely familiar, but her phone is unable to reach the new ship.

For the first time in her life, Rose Tyler is truly alone.

Refusing to lay down and give up though, she does what she has to do in order to keep going.

She locks away her heart and her emotions.

Because it is the only way she can survive the pain.


	5. Chapter 5

**We all know who owns Doctor Who and it's not me.**

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><p>Commander Tyler, clad in her customary black tank top, BDU's, and combat boots, runs through the massive Torchwood facility at top speed, easily maneuvering around the other people clogging the corridor.<p>

"What's happening?" she demands as she skids to a stop inside of the same blank white room that began her living hell so many years ago. It takes all over her self control to keep the memories at bay, even after all this time.

One of the residents experts steps forward and takes a breath to steady himself in the face of his fearsome employer, "Honestly? We have no idea what is occurring ma'am. The fissure isn't registering on any of our equipment. It's like it doesn't exist."

"Right. I want the entire level evacuated of all non-essential personnel, then this room gets cordoned off. No one gets in without my express consent," the woman announces while scanning the space with a critical eye, "I want motion sensors, tech scanners, and a live video feed set up. Post guards at the entrance of the room, the elevator, and the emergency stairwell. If something comes out of that crack, I want to know the instant it happens, is that clear?"

"Yes Commander," the crew replies en mass, then scuttles off, leaving her alone to inspect the anomaly.

As she draws closer to the crack on the wall, it begins emitting a soft glow. "What are you?" she asks, raising a hand towards it.

In that instant, somewhere in the time vortex, John Noble feels likes he's forgotten something. Feelings of sadness and regret surround whatever it is, but he is distracted from investigating the cause by his wife calling him for dinner.


	6. Chapter 6

**Don't own...**

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><p>"How can you be here? Doc said that it was impossible to get back after everything. Time and space aren't splintering again, are they?"<p>

"No, no splintering universes," Rose slowly lifts her head and wearily peers at the man who had sought her ought only hours earlier. "I told you this already Jack. There was a crack that wasn't a crack that appeared on the same wall that Torchwood One used for their ghosts shifts. That same crack showed up in both universes, and I know this because I saw it on both sides. When I got here, by the look of things, it was only a couple of months later."

Jack Harkness falls back in his chair and rubs his face in frustration before looking at the blond woman again, "But Rosie, that mess happened almost six years ago. You, well the other, younger you, has been here and gone again in that time. What have you been doing all the while?"

"Did you ever meet all of the members that made up Torchwood Two? I mean the ones who were still there after the battle of Canary Wharf," she asks with a tired, but no less enigmatic, grin.

"Not really," he admits with a touch of shame coloring his tone, "I just double checked their files to make sure things were legit then left them alone to do their own thing up there in Glascow. What difference would that make though? They disbanded a few months before that tripe with the 456. It might have saved a lot of lives if they hadn't dispersed. Guess we'll never know for sure though."

Rose blows out a heavy sigh, "They weren't disbanded Jack, they died. It was just me after that an' I needed someplace to lay low for a few years, so I posted the dissolution. When it came time for the younger me to come and help with Davros and that lot, I made sure I got my arse off planet. Unfortunately for me though, I seem to have inherited the same luck with time travel as you an' the Doctor have."

He chuckles with her for a moment before asking, "How long have you been gone?"

"Linear time for me, six months, three days, nineteen hours. But accordin' to your calender there, I missed my mark by...three years an' some change," she shakes the vortex manipulator that is still strapped to her arm, "I was usin' this to catch up on current world events and such when you snuck up on me and nearly got yourself shot."

The former time agent motions for her arm so that he can check out the device, "Do you know what caused the malfunction yet? This model isn't known for going off target like that so you might have a lemon on your hands."

She watches the man as he tinkers with the machine, "It must've been caused by one of the upgrades I got while I was off-world. Thing worked brilliantly before that. I ought to go back and shoot John Hart in his other arse cheek for breaking my teleporter."

Jack's head snaps up," John Hart you said?"

Rose nods her head once, "Yeah. I guess it was right after you two became partners an' you were still out celebratin'. You never saw me or anythin' so you don't have to worry about a paradox cropping up."

"Good," he breathes a sigh of relief, "Now that this is sorted, tell me more about that parallel world. Am I there?"

To Jack's dismay, the rest of her tale is a sad one, leaving the immortal fearing how much of his friend actually survived the tumultuous journey.

"You're different Rose Tyler," he finally states without question or accusation.

"New, new Rose for a new, new life," she smiles for Jack's sake but the jest tastes like ashes on her tongue.

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><p><strong>I heart Jack therefore I will always try to find a way to work him into my stories. This is fair warning XP<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**If I owned Doctor Who, the Doctor would never have been almost kinda sorta married to River Song. As it is, one can be happy with the knowledge that considering it was an aborted time line, technically the marriage never happened. That alone gives me hope :-)**

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><p>Over the next few months, the pair falls into a somewhat comfortable routine, fulfilling Torchwood's new role in the world while using tech they've managed to scrounge together and assemble in an old Torchwood warehouse they previously adopted as their headquarters.<p>

Gwen Cooper and her husband Rhys aid them on occasion, but the married couple always returns to their life of domesticity after the celebratory 'We're still Alive!' pint down at the pub.

The single time the Doctor is brought up in one of their conversations, it is by Gwen. "So, have you found the Doctor yet Rose?"

Former Commander Tyler's dark eyes shift from mirthful to flat and blank at the unexpected and painful inquiry.

"I'm not lookin' for him nor am I ever plannin' to. He made his wishes crystal clear when he swanned off to see the universe an' left me behind to fend for myself. Three different times he abandoned me, I've no desire to live through another."

Without another word, the blond woman rises from her seat and walks away from the stunned trio before anyone can come to their senses enough to follow.


	8. Chapter 8

**Put the torches and pitchforks away, I still don't own anything.**

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><p>"I hate Christmas," Rose grumbles to herself while winding her way through London's busy streets, her arms overflowing with various packages and bags, "I'm gonna kill Jack-again-for this when I get back."<p>

Then, by chance, she spots the long sought after car park where she left Jack's SUV that morning. With a relieved sigh, she jogs over to the truck, opens the boot, then gleefully throws the entire lot inside and slams the hatch. When she comes around to get in the vehicle though, there is a young man with floppy hair, a bow tie, and a tweed jacket standing there with a shocked expression plastered to his face.

"Rose?"

Instantly on alert, Commander Tyler casually rests a hand on the pistol hanging at her hip and stares him down. "S'cuse me mate? What did you call me?"

The stranger lifts his hands imploringly, "Rose, it's me. New face again. Still rude though, and not ginger. Please tell me that I'm not hallucinating, that you are really here."

"Sorry, but I've never seen you before in my life," she insists in a tight voice, "Move along and let me be."

"What did he do to you?" the sudden inquiry is low in volume and heartbreaking in its tone, "What has he done to make you hate me so much that you won't even acknowledge me?"

Rose yanks the truck's door open with much more force than is necessary before replying, "In the end he did exactly what you've always done when your companions are no longer interestin'. He flew away in his stupid blue box and left me behind to pick up the pieces of my world and reassemble them into something that almost resembled a life."

In his eyes, she can see and therefore feel his remorse, his sorrow, and his anger clawing at the walls she'd so carefully erected after John left her crying on the floor of their flat.

His pain mirrors her own and she can't bear it.

Finally, and with a great feat of mental strength, she pries herself away from his hazel gaze and retreats into the SUV with the hope that she did not reveal just how deep she is still wounded. He moves towards the vehicle, intent on preventing her leaving, but she throws the gear in drive before he can get the door open and speeds away as quickly as the machine will allow her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Me no own**

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><p>"Who was that sweetie?" his curly haired companion inquires as she saunters up, "I can tell she was quite the looker, should I be jealous?"<p>

"My heart and soul. The reason I still exist. Everything. Pick one, they're all an accurate description," the words escape him before they have a chance to register in his brain, "Jealousy would be a wasted effort since I've yet to meet a person who compares to Rose Tyler."

Still watching the Land Rover as it fades from sight, the Timelord cannot hear the sounds of a heart quietly breaking beside him.


	10. Chapter 10

**All Doctor Who stuff belongs to the BBC**

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><p>Rose speeds back to Cardiff in record time-just over an hour-and begins packing right after tossing her friend's purchases into his lap.<p>

"What's got you in such a rush?" he prods as he crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the door frame to observe the girl as she darts about, "And am I invited? Manic packing always gets me in the mood to have some fun. Come on kiddo, talk to me."

She shoves an armload of clothes into a battered duffel bag then spins on her heel and heads to the closet, "You never told me that he'd regenerated again."

"Who? The Doctor? I didn't know that he'd changed," the former time agent somberly confesses, "We sort of lost touch after what happened with Davros and the planets. Rose, I swear that I would've told you had I known. You know that I would never deliberately hide something that important from you."

She is silent for such a length of time that Jack's mental squirming nearly becomes tangible.

"I believe you," she breathes after a while, but does not divert from her frantic pace.

Jack casts all pretenses aside and steps in to intercept his best friend, "Where will you go?"

She shrugs one shoulder, "Maybe I'll go to America and see how Rex and his crew are handling things there. The Doctor doesn't wander that way too often, so I should be okay for a bit."

"Or you could just stay here with me and oh, I don't know, maybe actually talk to him long enough to explain how you got back to this universe and why you are suddenly acting all crazy when he shows up," Jack argues and forces her to stop by grasping her hands, "Rose, you of all people know that he will never stop trying to find you now that he's learned you've returned. He's going to want to know the why and the how of things, just like he always does. You should at least stick around long enough to tell him what happened."

"Yeah, well luckily I don't answer to you," Rose snaps in irritation as she releases his hands and picks up her bag, "An' I sure as hell don't answer to him no more."

Suddenly the tell tale wheezing of the TARDIS landing resonates through the building. Jack tries to grab Rose, but she smacks the device on her arm before he can reach her and vanishes with a loud _crack!_

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><p><em><em>**Can anyone say over-reaction? lol**


	11. Chapter 11

**I found my notebook!**

**I still don't own anything Doctor Who though :-(**

**Any mistakes are my own.**

"Where is she Jack?" a lean man dressed eerily similar to an old history professor demands as soon as the doors of the blue box are opened, "I know she's here so don't bother lying to me."

Jack affixes his most innocent look his face and turns to face the angry Gallifreyan, "Who are you talking about Doc? No one here but little ole' me. Feel free to check for yourself though, but don't you dare come back and complain that I didn't warn you. Oh, hello," this is aimed at the curvy woman stepping out of the time machine, "I'm Captain Jack Harkness and what may I have the pleasure of calling you dear?"

She extends one long fingered hand and announces, "Professor River Song," at the same time the Doctor whines, "Stop it Jack."

"I'm just being friendly Doc," Jack impishly smirks, "Unlike some people I know, I'm friendly still have possession of this thing called manners."

The Time Lord sighs in frustration at the readings on his sonic screwdriver, "I can be quite friendly and mannerly when I choose to be. And unlike you, me saying hello is neither an invitation to my bed nor foreplay."

"Don't mind him, he's been like this for weeks," River's gaze is filled to the brim with affection in spite of the eye-roll she directs at the alien in question, "He gets downright cranky whenever he starts skipping his weekly naps."

The Torchwood agent snickers alongside the professor, "So does this mean you're his newest companion?"

"Sometimes, although our time-lines are a bit muddled and I don't get to spend as much time with him as I'd like to," she acquiesces in a more somber tone, "Linear time-wise, my mother and father were the last companions to travel with him."

"You're a time traveler too then," Jack correctly surmises, his blue eyes still following his manic friend, "That has to make the Doctor a bit easier to understand. At least I hope it does. Never worked much for me though."

"Not one little bit, so I guess that makes us even," River wistfully grins, then trots off after the other man when he calls out excitedly.


	12. Chapter 12

**And again...**

Rose Tyler re-materializes and can immediately discern from her surroundings that she has once again missed her target. Pink walls, pink bed spread, pink rugs littering the floor. The room she is standing in appears to have been drenched in Pepto Bismal.

"Holy hell, I'm in the TARDIS!" she squeaks in astonishment, "This is my old room..."

Her thoughts drift off as warm tendrils begin dancing through her mind. The sensations bring and unconscious smile to her face. "Hello to you as well old girl. I've missed you so much."

Suddenly the woman's mind is assaulted with a barrage of images. Some are of the pin-striped Doctor she once loved dearly, with him always running away from comfort and into trouble. Others consist of this new bow tied Doctor, with his brash attitude and penchant for ridiculousness leading the charge. Every now and again a curly haired woman is with him in these visions, other times a blond man and a ginger Scottish woman follow him about on his adventures.

All through the mental replay, Rose is battered with feelings of the Doctor's isolation and loneliness. It's almost as if the ancient vessel is showing her just how bad off the Doctor has been in her absence and is begging her to come back and care for their Time Lord once more.

"I can't do it, not anymore. I'm sorry, but three times he has left me alone and I lost a little more of my soul each time," she rubs away the wetness that threatens to spill from her eyes, "I wouldn't survive him doin' it again. God, I'm so sorry."

The emotions swimming through the room make it nearly impossible to breathe and Rose has to tamp down her urge to stomp her foot in protest. "No, I'm not stayin'! If you want to be mad at someone for that, blame him. He's the one who kept trying to rid himself of me in the first place. My only fault in all of this is that it took me so long to figure it out and then stay gone, just like he wanted."

Echoes of the Doctor calling her name reach the woman's ears and she hurriedly begins mashing new coordinates into her device. "Please, just let me go. I won't stay here and wait for him to cast me aside after the novelty's worn off."

"You were never just a novelty," the Doctor declares from behind her as he steps inside the room, "I love you Rose Tyler, and could never tire of you."

Before she can reply, his arms snake around her waist and his lips capture her own. Unwillingly, her arms reach up and embrace him as he deepens the kiss and, just for a moment, Rose surrenders and loses herself in her Doctor all over again.

Eventually his ministrations grow less desperate and more tender until he finally breaks away to rest his forehead against hers, "I love you so much. I'll never let you go again."

A quiet sniffle erupts from the girl as she gazes up at him "I love you too. I always will."

Then, in a single motion, she twists out of his arms and disappears.

The Doctor blinks once, twice, his jubilation slowly melting into confusion when the space before him continues to remain void of his beloved human, then collapses to his hands and knees as his legs abruptly give up their struggle against gravity.


	13. Chapter 13

**Still own nothing.**

**I think I **finally ** managed to catch all the errors *crosses fingers***

After some time, the sound of footsteps finally draws his gaze from where his pink and yellow human once stood.

River gracefully kneels at his side and gives his shoulder a sympathetic squeeze, "You, my daft darling, are going to chase her. Why? Because both of you need to realize that she is worth fighting for."

The Doctor's fingers curl into the rug under him, "She doesn't want me River, that's why she left."

"No, she has been broken my love, by your own hand no less," the archeologist passionately counters, "You left her on her own time and again, gallivanting across the universe on a whim, determined to be oblivious to your feelings for one another. Then after losing her and getting her back, you dump her straight into the arms of another. Then the very man that you yourself claimed to be you-with the exceptions of a single heart and a single life to match-abandoned her, married another woman, and started a family with the new missus before slinking back a few years later and stealing the last remnant she had of her old life. The young TARDIS. Rose was on her own, stuck on a world that was never hers, and he wasn't there for her. Not even when her entire family died."

He shifts to glare at her, "No, Jackie, Pete-"

"All dead, and your cloned twin couldn't be bothered to phone her and offer as much as an 'I'm sorry' when it happened," the woman accuses in a hardening tone.

"Who told you all of this? And don't tell me 'spoilers' River, I'm not in the mood for your games."

She rises from her crouch, "Jack told me just a short time ago. Doctor, you've been staring at the floor for hours. Don't you think it's time for you to get up, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and go after her?"

Minutes tick by before the Time Lord suddenly jumps to his feet and sprints to the console room, where Jack watches him maniacally dance around the controls. "Where are we heading now Doc?"

The Doctor grins at his old friend, "We're going to follow her trail Jack. I'd find something to hold onto if I were you, this is going to get bumpy!"

The Torchwood agent barely has time to grab the railing before the ship hurtles into the vortex.


End file.
